


Ari-Griff Test (WIP)

by KnightlySphinx



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightlySphinx/pseuds/KnightlySphinx





	Ari-Griff Test (WIP)

(With rage like a blindfold over his eyes, Aristo fails to see the quick-footed fighter sidle her foot behind his fake one, leaving him falling backwards off-guard. A metal sword slips smoothly into his back and releases out from his stomach, a spurt of blood following it. White hot pain flares inside Aristo in a fury he’s never felt before, and he feels himself slip onto the ground. He hears the sound of the soldier scurrying away, leaving him to bleed out. It feels like an eternity before he realizes what just happened.

With the last drop of his strength and an ache carved deep inside of his heart, he calls out a name. The darkness starts to trail onto his vision. He sees a head of messy hair and bright brown eyes. He sees a smile like warm caramel. He feels the caress of light fingers, loving and gentle. Then he sees—)

(They’re in a the forest, running for the past three hours from the village they burned down. The both of them were on edge for different reasons. They’re both tired, but can’t rest at the same time.)

For what had to have been the tenth time in that hour, Aristo tripped over the scattered shrubbery on the ground, catching himself on the nearest tree before pushing himself off of it and continuing on with practiced technique. He still wasn’t used to his new limb, and walking through a cramped, dense forest wasn’t helping him adjust at all. He winced. That last fumble must have shifted his prosthetic a bit, and now it was digging into him.

He just had to get his mind off the pain and he’d be fine.

The wind was still and silent and the only thing he could hear was the crunching of leaves under his and Griff’s labored steps. The scene ahead of him looked identical to what he had seen for the last three hours. For a moment, he wondered if Griff was doing alright behind him but—no. Thoughts of him were something he wanted to get his mind off of too. 

As if he sensed the need for distraction—but not realizing he was the culprit—Griff piped up from behind, his steps audibly slowing down. 

“Hey.” Aristo could hear him smile. “Wanna stop here?”

Aristo scanned their surroundings. The distance between the trees was slightly more spacious than earlier, and it didn’t seem like any breathing beings besides them were around. Ahead was perpetual forest, as grim as always.

“Sure.” He replied, shrugging as he sat himself down so his back was against a tree. The moment the weight was off of his foot, he relaxed his whole body.

Griff took a seat right next to him, and the warmth of his body made Ari want to lean in. He composed himself internally, though, and kept still. Instead, he opted to shove off his fake leg and observe the damage.

Knowing it would hurt, he mustered up as much strength as he could and pushed the prosthetic off in one heave. He yelped as the leg flew a foot away, scraping against his skin as it did. The cloth around his stump was red.

“Ari, holy shit. Have you been walking with that this whole time?” Griffin asked, horrified. Ari shrunk into himself.

“It looks worse than it is.” 

“Well it still looks pretty damn bad. Here, let me.”

Griffin placed his hands gently on the bandages around Aristo’s leg, skimming his hands in search for where the bandage ended. Against his own will, Aristo shivered at his touch.

“Agh, sorry. Did that hurt?”

“Uh.” Aristo swallowed. “Sure.”

“What kind of answer is that?”

Aristo rolled his eyes, turning his head away from the other boy so he couldn’t see his flaring face. “Can you just treat it already?”

“Fine, fine.”

Griffin started to unwrap his bandages slowly, being careful to watch Aristo for any signs of pain or discomfort, much to Ari’s dismay. He tried not to look at the messy-haired boy from the corner of his eye, training is eyes instead on a very average-looking tree to his side. He could tell Griffin was done unwrapping him when he felt the damp air touch his previously concealed skin.

Griffin made a noise at the back of his throat, which immediately led to Aristo’s gaze drifting to the sight that was in front of him. He recoiled on himself as he peered at his own wound.

His skin was rubbed raw like a stripped chicken, and a ring of blood was surrounding his stump in the shape of where the prosthetic was digging into him. Around it, blossoms of discolored bruises were scattered about. It looked as if his leg had gotten into an accident with an angry horse and a feral cat.

Griffin didn’t say a word, but instead reached into his bag and brought out their medical supplies. Aristo watched him work as he followed a similar procedure he had done a few times before, and watched Aristo do many times more. 

Griffin’s deft fingers wrapped around a bottle of antiseptic, twirling it open and leaning a cotton cloth against it to soak it. Aristo could smell the pungent liquid from where Griffin was.

“I’m gonna clean the wound now.” Griffin warned, giving Ari a comforting smile as the injured boy braced himself for the pain. 

The antiseptic was lukewarm, but no less painful as it seeped into his wound like acid. Aristo couldn’t help but hiss, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip as he held back any loud noise. He tried to breath slowly through his nose, focusing his brain on the tree beside him once again.

“...done.” Griffin said after an excruciating amount of time. Aristo looked down. His leg was less bloody than before, but no less gruesome. He would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt like hell now that he was truly looking at it.

“I’m not sure if I can walk right now.” Ari said quietly.

Griffin scoffed. “Who said we’re leaving anytime soon? I’m not making you walk like that.”

“But you’ll make me carry a dead homeless man across town?”

“Those two are completely unrelated!”

“They’re equally as cruel.” Aristo pouted.

“You agreed to carrying the guy!”

“I’d also agree to keep walking if you asked.”

“Dude, you’re insufferable.”

“Thanks.”

A quiet settled into the air as Griffin finished up wrapping Ari’s leg neatly. He then laid down in comfortable, familiar silence right beside Ari.

It wasn’t long before Griffin spoke up, though not in the way Aristo expected. 

“So...you okay?” He asked quietly, sidling himself next to Aristo, this time touching their shoulders together. Ari froze. He could feel Griff’s stare on him, but he refused to look back. The shift in the air made him feel like the elation from the moment they just had was sucked away, and a sinking feeling in his stomach replaced it. 

“What a loaded question.” He mumbled. “Why do you care?”

“I care because we’ve spent 6 full months surviving in the wild and trying to fix the world’s impending doom. I feel like we’re practically connected now.”

“But I dragged you into all of this. You befriended me out of necessity more than choice.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself more than you’re telling me what I’m feeling. I care about you, Ari. How could I not?”

“There are so many reasons you couldn’t, and shouldn’t.”

“Somehow, I think I know most of them. I decided for myself that they’re not actually true, and that there are more reasons to like you instead, you know.”

“Jeez, not even I can think of more than one reason to like me.” Ari half-joked.

“I must be some type of genius then, ‘cus I’ve found way too many.” Griffin stuck his tongue out mockingly. 

Aristo felt something inside him turn to mush at those words. Someone liked him. No, not just someone, but *Griffin*. He couldn’t help but want to fish for all the reasons Griffin believed Ari was worth his time, even if it made him sound conceited. “Alright then, genius. List them off.”

“Sure! I like the way you do your hair, it’s very sophisticated. I like it even better when it’s messy.”

Aristo thought for a moment. “Like yours?”

“Haha. My hair’s disobedient, it’s impossible to get it into any shape other than it’s natural form. It’s actually kind of mystical. Wait, stop trying to change the subject!”

“You’re changing it by yourself.”

“Eh, you knew what you were doing. Hey! That’s another thing I like about you, Ari. You know me well. Better than my friends back at school.”

“Just because I know you get distracted easily?”

“Not just that! Anyway, I like the way you’re clever, and the way you can read people so quickly. And how you’ve got a quick wit.”

“You’re just slow, Griffin.”

“Untrue, I just trust you too much. Which is another thing I like. I like that I know I can trust you.”

“That’s...concerning.”

“It’s hardly that. I trust you with my life. I hope you trust me with yours, though it’s alright if you don’t. Anyway, I like—“

“I do. Trust you, I mean.”

“Oh.” Griffin flushed pink, his eyes wide with surprise. “I...didn’t know.”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“No, no! Well, uh, maybe a little. I didn’t think you liked me all that much.”

What an idiot.

“I wouldn’t trust someone who I hated.” Was all Aristo said in response, not trusting himself to say more. He could feel Griffin perk up against him. 

A bright, sunny smile spread so wide across Griffin’s face, it might just have been the widest he’s ever smiled. Which made Ari’s heart thump like a giant drum at the speed of light.

“I guess so!” Griff chucked. “Oh, that’s another thing I like about you. You’re careful with affection. When you give it out, it’s like a prize that I need to cherish. I’ve never met anyone like that before.”

Aristo could feel his face burn bright red again. He stared at the tree as if he was trying to carve his name into it with him gaze alone. Griffin laughed. “Sorry, was that too much?”

Aristo was quiet for a moment, still refusing to face Griffin, but managed to mutter out: “No. You just...make it sound like that’s something good about me. It’s not.”

“It is. I wouldn’t be saying it if it wasn’t. Not everyone needs to be obvious and loud with their affection all the time.”

Aristo laughed. “Like you?”

“Hah! Yeah, like me.”

Aristo smiled to himself without realizing, a warm, comfortable feeling wrapping him in a tight embrace. Oddly enough, despite how unfamiliar the feeling was, he wasn’t unsure of himself. His pain was like a ghost in the back of his mind, the panic of time and responsibility for once was not pressing on his shoulders, and Griff felt right when he was by his side, unflinching and ever-present and not something that made Aristo feel like he needed to distance himself from. For once, he felt like maybe things would be okay. Maybe—no, he knew, when he was with Griffin, he was safe. And amazingly enough, happy, too. 

“Hey, Ari?” Griffin asked softly amidst the quiet rustle of leaves in the wind. He hadn’t realized he had drifted off into his own world.

“Mm?” Ari hummed.

“Have you ever...ah, never mind.”

“Ask your question Griff, doesn’t matter how stupid it is.”

“Um. It’s...pretty stupid though?”

“I guarantee you’ve said stupider things. So? What is it?”

“Well, the question was...have you ever fallen in love before?”

Aristo’s heart stopped. In a flash, the sinking feeling returned, though he wasn’t sure why. He just felt like the ground was sucking him in, and he was all too aware of Griffin’s presence pressed so close next to him. Too warm. Too close. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Ari?”

He knew he was frozen, but his body refused to relax. He felt Griff stiffen against his tense shoulder as well.

“Is this a touchy subject for you?” Griffin laughed airily. “You don’t have to talk about it. Maybe it was a stupid question after all.”

Ari swallowed, his throat stripped dry. Why wouldn’t his words come out? What was this heavy feeling that crawled inside his stomach?

“I...” He started. “I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Ari could hear the shifting of fabric, and looked down to see Griffin rubbing his pants idly beneath his fingers. “What does that mean?”

Ari swallowed. His nerves were on fire. Why was it all of a sudden so hot in the forest? Wasn’t there a breeze going around? 

“I’m not sure. I just don’t know what love’s supposed to feel like. How could I know if I’ve fallen in love?”

“You don’t know what love feels like?” Griffin turned his head to face Ari’s, their noses mere inches apart. Ari could see just how warm and chocolatey his eyes were, and he could see his own tan complexion in them.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“That’s so messed up. How about I describe it to you? I’m sure you’ve felt it before.”

Aristo rolled his eyes, making a show of his annoyance, but inside, he felt like his insides painfully twist. “Sure. Alright.”

“Hmm. I’d describe love as a feeling you have when you want someone or something to never go away. You want it with you or around you forever. It makes you feel safe and warm.”

Ari wiped his sweaty palms off on his shirt. The air around him felt like static, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Griff felt it too.

“Love tends to be slightly different from person to person, but overall, the sentiment’s the same. It’s beyond caring. It’s wanting and needing. It’s deep and it feels like your stomach is filled with butterflies.” Griff continued.

A fluttering feeling. Hah, he think he knew it.

“You wanna spend all of your time with whoever you’re in love with. You think about them all the time, and when you imagine the future, they’re most definitely in it”

When Ari envisioned any scenario, there wasn’t a moment he had where Griffin wasn’t in the picture. Ari suddenly felt the urge to pick his hand up and curl it around Griff’s face. It hurt to tell himself that if he did, he might just lose everything that had been building for the past 6 months.

“I think when you’re in love with someone, no matter what happens, you’re still gonna love them. You only see the good in them. Even if they don’t see it themselves.”

Ari felt his mind start to churn with thoughts. Yeah, he would stay with Griffin until the end of the world, as disgustingly poetic as it sounded. Aristo felt like he was overloading. Before he knew it, one of his many rampant thoughts spilled out into a question.

“What about you?” He asked. 

Griffin froze, turning to face Ari with an eyebrow raised high.“What about me?”

God, it was too late to turn back now. “Have you ever...” He swallowed. “uh, fallen in love?“ 

“Yes.” Griffin replied fast and firm, his eyes drifting to somewhere above Ari’s head. Ari could still hear him rubbing his pants. “I have. Fallen in love, I mean.”

“You don’t look too happy about it.”

“No.” Griffin sighed, his face contorting into an expression that made Griffin seem old and weary. His mouth was smiling pleasantly, but his eyes felt sorrowful. The dissonance between the two felt almost disturbing. “Another thing about love is that you can’t control who you fall in love with. That might be the one thing about it that isn’t wonderful.”

“Why should it matter so much who you fall in love with? Man or woman, rich or poor, it’s all the—”

“It’s not like that” Griffin cut him off. “I don’t care about that. It’s more that when things are unrequited, it’s harder to enjoy what love you’re feeling.”

“Who doesn’t love you, Griff?” Ari says without meaning to. His words felt heavy in the air, especially since he meant it with his whole being.

Griff went quiet, turning away so he was facing the sky instead of him, and Ari didn’t disturb the peace. His mind was swirling with thoughts and feelings too. Who was Griffin in love with? Why was it unrequited? And why did he have to ask such a painful question (though it was hardly his fault)? 

While the silence stretched on, he began to reflect. Aristo hated being left uninformed. He hated things that were incomplete. He hated questions that were unanswered, and most of all, he hated beating around the bush. His feelings were beginning to feel like a burden. He could love Griffin all he wanted, but if there was another person, he had already lost. Sure, the love was unrequited, but he knew that look in Griffin’s eyes. That deep, intense look, that faraway stare, that sorrow. There was nothing he could do. So instead of waiting for Griffin’s answer to his frankly rhetorical question, he decided to rip the bandaid off and save himself the anguish.

“Who are you in love with?” Ari asked, half still in his head. It came out harder than it needed to. 

The silence deepened. God dammit, what the hell was he doing? This was such a stupid idea.

“You don’t have to answer that.” He quickly added a beat too late. He sighed deeply. “It’s not my business. I was just wondering—“

“It’s fine.” Griffin shifted his eyes towards him without turning his head, smiling tightly, yet warmly. “I want to tell you.”

Ari froze. That wasn’t what he was expecting. 

Griffin’s eyes gazed at the expanse of leaves above him. Ari copied his position, laying down so that he was staring at a rough green sea, only a sliver of the other boy in his peripheral view. The wind rustled the leaves once more as Griffin spoke.

“I fell in love with someone close to me. Someone I least expected to fall in love with.”

“Why did you least expect it?” Aristo asked hesitantly. 

“I’ve never fallen in love with someone like them before. It wasn’t a bad thing, at least not in my mind, just something I never thought would happen. But it did. And I couldn’t be happier.”

The questions seemed to churn in Ari’s brain, unable to be stopped before spilling from his mouth. His curiosity got the better of him. “What are they like?”

Griffin chuckled. “They’re straightforward. They’re not afraid to tell you the truth. They’re awfully rude sometimes. It’s something I appreciate about them.”

Ari scrunched his brows. “Sounds like they’re a bit of a prick.”

Somehow, his comment made Griffin laugh even harder. “Yeah, you could say that.” 

Ari couldn’t help but smile with him, despite his confusion.

“He may sound like a prick, but he isn’t one. Far from it. He’s caring in a quiet way, and I know I can trust him with anything. He keeps me going.”

“He?”

Griff made an odd noise from his throat, oddly akin to a choking sound. Ari raised his brow as he looked over, noticing how the other boy’s ears were red. 

“Yeah. He.” He said stiffly. “I...think I’ve said enough about me.” Griffin sighed, his eyes still glued to the roof of the forest. “What about you, Ari? Do you think you’ve fallen in love before?”

How the hell was he supposed to answer that? Well, there was no beating around the bush. With hesitance, Ari mumbled his response through gritted teeth. “Yes. I...think.”

Griffin perked up immediately at his words. He turned his head to face Ari, their faces once again only inches apart. There was a glitter in Griff’s eyes.

“You think so?!”

“Yeah. What you said about earlier, that’s how I feel about them.”

“So?”

“Uh, so?”

Griffin rolled his eyes, looking as though Ari was missing something obvious. “Are you gonna tell me about them?”

Ari licked his lips, feeling the heat come back and the static in the air return. He flicked his eyes anywhere but Griffin. Should he just say it? 

Perhaps. They were going to die soon. Maybe he shouldn’t bother waiting. 

“Yeah. Sure.” He replied in short. Griffin cheered. The cheer felt a little too loud. 


End file.
